KIEV, Ukraine, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The natural gas debt for July gas deliveries from Russia to Ukraine was paid in full by Ukrainian utility company Naftogaz, the company announced.
Ukraine under the terms of a revised gas contract with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom pays $100 per 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas. Naftogaz said it paid around $780 million for its July gas payments on time, Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reports.
Gazprom in January 2009 cut gas supplies to Ukraine briefly following a dispute over gas contracts and debt. Russia ships 80 percent of its gas through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine.
Naftogaz through 2009 struggled to find the money to pay for its Russian gas prompting European consumers to worry during a bitterly cold winter.
The company under the direction of a new government in Kiev secured gas at a discount earlier this year during negotiations with Gazprom. The discount came in exchange for an extended lease for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea.
Ukraine relies heavily on the revenue generated by gas transits to the European consumers.
The international community has pressed Kiev to make energy reforms to secure energy supplies for Europe.
